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Cited by 1,018Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesMemory and Neural Mechanisms

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 54 of the 54 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Dopamine responses comply with basic assumptions of formal learning theory

Waelti, Pascale, Dickinson, Anthony, Schultz, Wolfram·2001·Nature
DOI 10.1038/35083500
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Abstract

According to contemporary learning theories, the discrepancy, or error, between the actual and predicted reward determines whether learning occurs when a stimulus is paired with a reward. The role of prediction errors is directly demonstrated by the observation that learning is blocked when the stimulus is paired with a fully predicted reward. By using this blocking procedure, we show that the responses of dopamine neurons to conditioned stimuli was governed differentially by the occurrence of reward prediction errors rather than stimulus-reward associations alone, as was the learning of behavioural reactions. Both behavioural and neuronal learning occurred predominantly when dopamine neurons registered a reward prediction error at the time of the reward. Our data indicate that the use of analytical tests derived from formal behavioural learning theory provides a powerful approach for studying the role of single neurons in learning.

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Pavlov, I. P. Conditional Reflexes (Oxford Univ. Press, London, 1927).
  2. Fibiger, H. C. & Phillips, A. G. in Handbook of Physiology—The Nervous System IV (ed. Bloom, F. E.) 647–675 (Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, 1986).
  3. Kamin, L. J. in Fundamental Issues in Instrumental Learning (eds Mackintosh, N. J. & Honig, W. K.) 42–64 (Dalhousie Univ. Press, Dalhousie, 1969).

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Metadata

Authors
Waelti, P., Dickinson, A., & Schultz, W.
Affiliations
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
  • University of Fribourg (CH)
Corresponding author
Schultz, Wolfram
ORCID
Venue
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2001-07
Volume
412
Issue
6842
Pages
43-48
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/35083500
OpenAlex
W2136748963
Cited by
1,018
References
54
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 42 · 2018: 37 · 2017: 48 · 2016: 50 · 2015: 45 · 2014: 41 · 2013: 56 · 2012: 43
FWCI
13.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • reroDoc Digital Library (submittedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • James S. McDonnell Foundation
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Keywords
dopaminergic neurons, reward prediction error, learning theory, stimulus-reward associations, blocking, conditioned stimulus, single-unit recording, behavioural learning, reward prediction
MeSH terms
Animals, Conditioning, Classical, Dopamine, Learning, Macaca fascicularis, Male, Models, Neurological, Neurons, Photic Stimulation, Psychological Theory, Reward

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